The Evolution Chronicles

Alaric collapsed to his knees, complete exhausted and in pain. His body was covered in scorch marks, giving him a grizzly look. The moment he laid eyes on Coollete and Bright, he rushed forward to treat their wounds.

A warm yellow wave of light washed over all four of them as Alaric used a spell with an area of effect property. The scrunched up faces of Coollete and Bright instantly gained some form of relaxation as their wounds were healed.

"Thanks, Alaric." Donnelan nodded at the healer who waved the words of gratitude away.

"It's my duty as a healer to keep my teammates at full strength and health... Speaking of full health," Alaric peeked from the corner of the castle wall, spying Leonardo engaged in brutal combat with the Elemental Dragon, "I need to heal him up."

Alaric gathered up another ball of energy that was much more concentrated than what he used to heal the four Lord Class wizards of their team. After confirming that the build up was satisfactory and concentrated enough, he shot it out at the raging Beastman who was on a slight disadvantage in the first.

Feeling his injuries healing, Leonardo bared his vicious fangs, roaring into the sky before charging at the dragon. The King Class Elemental Dragon let out its own vicious roar and bared its mouth to fire out a concentrated beam of energy at Leonardo.

At the last moment before contact, Leonardo suddenly vanished out of sight before reappearing behind the dragon. He had used a high level movement technique that was unique to his Beastman tribe to dodge the attack and instantly appear at wherever he wanted to. The only down side of this ability was that it consumed an enormous amount of stamina.

"World Howl!!!" He opened his mouth as wide as it could go, concentrating an immense amount of mana and condensing it into a beam of pure destruction. If he used this on any random planet, then he was sure that it could wipe out an entire mountain range, and some more.

The beam slammed into the back of the Elemental Dragon and rapidly expanded into a sphere of destruction that scoured the entire floor around the dragon. Even Leonardo himself was blasted back some meters.

By the time the sphere of destruction disappeared, the dragon was left bathed in its own blood, its scaled ripped off and exposing soft flesh underneath. He dragon turned, a completely malicious look in its eyes. Right before everyone's eyes, the wounds of the beast began to close up, its superior body being put to use.

"Dammit, I gotta do something!" Donnelan mumbled to himself. Inside him, he could feel a faint pull that urged him to enter the castle that loomed over them. The castle's size was truly stupendous, its spires reaching up high to brush against the rocky ceiling.

"I have to go inside." Donnelan informed his friends/party members.

"What?!"

"Are you stupid?!"

Both Alaric and Coollete burst out in shock. Bright kept his calm façade, only giving the scholar a once over.

"He should go." Bright suddenly spoke up. Alaric and Coollete's heads snapped to him next, a look of betrayal on their faces.

"He feels a pull, don't you, Donnelan?" He turned his attention back to the scholar who hastily nodded. "I believe we should let him. Whatever is calling him is the only was he can alleviate this problem. It is worth a shot."

The healer and the ice mage held their tongues, contemplating their choices.

"Fine." The both spoke at the same time. "But if you run into danger, we want you back here." Alaric added.

"Fine" The scholar agreed. He cast them a grateful look before running off to find an entrance to the castle.

"While he is doing that, let us assist Leonardo in battle. That muscle head will probably soon throw himself into that dragon's maws. The three mages fanned out before charging up their various attacks. Alaric stood by, ready to throw around his own healing spells to preserve his teammates' injuries.

BOOM!

BOOM!

As Donnelan made his way through the ground floor of the castle, he felt and heard the powerful shockwaves of numerous powerful beings going all out. He was truly shocked by the powerful attacks of the Elemental Dragon. All his party members had nearly lost their lives from just one attack. At least Alaric was still on his feet, or else things would have gotten more dangerous.

Rushing up the stairs using his superior speed that was powered by Lightning Magic, he made quick time, climbing through the castle at breakneck speed. All through out his travel, the only thing he was was stone statues depicting various figures and beasts. In the middle of movement, he suddenlyy stopped, his mind captured by the statue of a surprising beast.

The Elemental Dragon he had seen battling Leonardo and the other members of his party was presently in he castle, but in the form of a stone sculpture. Even its statue radiated a form of pressure that threatened to overwhelm hi. Just how powerful was this thing supposed to be?

Letting out another curse, he turned and continued to run up ahead, to their higher floors. The higher he went though, the more an unknown pressure pressed down on his mind. He cursed again, pushing against it.

"I can't fail. They are all counting on me!" Although his speed was still getting reduced because of the pressure, he refused to give up until he finally reached the top floor.

Warily, he looked around, casting his senses to confirm any danger. After half a minute, he finally withdrew his senses somewhat, still cautious.

In the middle of the room was a raised stone pedestal, similar to that of the array that they had encountered outside the ruin. Ancient scriptures were intricately carved into the body of the pedestal, swirling up until it reached the top.

Donnelan's eyes traced every single indentation on the pedestal, following it up until he laid eyes upon the true prize. A glimmering white crown with gold flourishes that was coated in intricate runes sat above the pedestal. No, it did not seat upon the pedestal, instead, it floated above the pedestal, its sheer force of presence forcing Donnelan to his knees as he gazed upon it.

BOOM!

A dull explosion shook him out of his trance.

"What am I doing? They're risking their lives and I'm here gazing upon a crown..." He shook his head and forced himself up to his feet. With shaky steps, he moved forward, the intense pressure increasing with each step.

Donnelan could hardly believe it. Just the pressure from the crown was enough to nearly render him useless and empty minded.

An agonizing minute later, he was finally at the foot of the pedestal, but he couldn't move a step further. His legs weighed a ton, and he felt as though an entire mountain was resting on his shoulders. The only thing that kept him going was the occasional dull sounds of explosions from the battle outside the castle. He had no idea how his party members were faring, but he knew that from the display of strength the Elemental Dragon had shown off at the beginning of the battle, for all he knew, they were on the brink of defeat. He had faith in them, but there was little faith could do in this case.

Hesitantly, and with great difficulty, he raised his hand, reaching up to the glistening crown. As though there was a barrier between the crown and the rest of the world, a field of repulsion popped into existence just a few inches between Donnelan's outstretched hand and the crown.

He pushed and pushed, but it didn't give way. That was when an idea popped into his mind.

'If this is the Lightning Crown, then that means I should use lightning magic...' As the thought passed through his mind, he let out a little pit of lightning from his energy reserves. Upon doing so, he immediately realized that the amount of resistance he was facing reduced and he was able to push in his hand a bit further.

With a grin, Donnelan let out a burst of lightning, painting the room in a bright yellow light. With that burst, his hand finally crossed the remaining distance, snatching the core from its levitated position above the pedestal.

As soon as he snatched it, however, an immense pressure erupted from the pedestal, enough to shake his soul and leave his mind stunned for half a minute. By the time he regained his wits, he was shocked to realize that he wasn't in the castle anymore, but instead, he was in a dark, void space where no light existed. He could see himself, but that was just it. The darkness around him expanded into the distance.

[Finally! One of my descendants has found their way back!] A booming voice erupted from the darkness, followed by a burst of lightning before Donnelan. He shielded his eyes from the light, waiting for it to recede. When it finally did, he let down his arms, and was shocked by the being before him.

Garbed in a luxurious white robe with gold flourishes and other eye catching decorations, a being made entirely out of lightning floated before Donnelan.